Biography of Louis Pasteur. Scientific merit of Louis Pasteur French scientist Louis Pasteur discovered
Louis Pasteur was born on September 18, 1822 in the small French town of Doyle. His father, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, made a living by running a small leather workshop. The head of the family never finished school and could barely read and write, but he wanted a different future for his son. The tanner spared no expense, and after graduating from high school, young Louis was sent to college, where he continued his education. They say that it was difficult to find a more diligent student in all of France. Pasteur showed unprecedented perseverance, and in letters to the sisters he talked about how much success in the sciences depends on "desire and work." No one was surprised when, after graduating from college, Louis decided to take the exam at the Higher Normal School in Paris.
Having successfully passed the entrance examinations, Pasteur became a student. The money that the leather workshop brought in was not enough for education, so the young man had to earn extra money as a teacher. But neither work nor passion for painting (Pasteur received a bachelor of arts degree, painted many portraits that were highly appreciated by artists of that time) could not distract the young man from his passion for the natural sciences.
Vaccination of a boy bitten by a rabid dog. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Already at the age of 26, Louis Pasteur received the title of professor of physics for his discoveries in the field of the structure of tartaric acid crystals. However, in the process of studying organic substances, the young scientist realized that his vocation was not physics at all, but chemistry and biology.
In 1826, Louis Pasteur received an invitation to work at the University of Strasbourg. While visiting Rector Laurent, Pasteur met his daughter Marie. And a week after they met, the rector received a letter in which the young professor asked for the hand of his daughter. Pasteur saw Marie only once, but he was completely sure of his choice. In a letter, he honestly informed the bride's father that "except for good health and a good heart" he had nothing to offer Marie. However, Mr. Laurent for some reason believed in the happy future of his daughter and gave permission for the wedding. Intuition did not fail - the Pasteurs lived in harmony for many years, and in the person of Marie, the scientist found not only his beloved wife, but also a faithful assistant.
Wine and chickens
One of the first works that brought Pasteur fame was a work on fermentation processes. In 1854, Louis Pasteur was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Lille. There he continued the study of tartaric acids, which had begun at the Higher Normal School. Once, a wealthy wine merchant knocked on Pasteur's house and asked the scientist to help him. Local winemakers could not understand why wine and beer spoiled. Pasteur enthusiastically set about solving an unusual problem. Examining the must under a microscope, Pasteur discovered that in addition to yeast fungi, there are also microorganisms in the form of sticks in wine. In the vessels where the sticks were present, the wine turned sour. And if the fungi were responsible for the process of alcoholic fermentation, then the sticks were the culprits of spoiling wine and beer. Thus, one of the greatest discoveries was made - Pasteur explained not only the nature of fermentation, but also made the assumption that microbes do not originate by themselves, but enter the body from outside. To solve the problem of wine spoilage, Pasteur began by creating an environment free of bacteria. The scientist heated the wort to a temperature of 60 degrees to kill all microorganisms, and wine and beer were prepared on the basis of this wort. This technique is still used in industry today and is called pasteurization in honor of its creator.
Louis Pasteur in his laboratory. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Despite the fact that this discovery brought recognition to Pasteur, those times were difficult for the scientist - three of Pasteur's five daughters died of typhoid fever. This tragedy prompted the professor to study infectious diseases. Examining the contents of abscesses, wounds and ulcers, Pasteur discovered many infectious agents, including staphylococcus and streptococcus.
Pasteur's laboratory in those days resembled a chicken farm - the scientist identified the causative agent of chicken cholera and tried to find a way to counteract this disease. The professor was helped by chance. The culture with cholera microbes was forgotten in the thermostat. After the dried virus was injected into the chickens, they, to the scientist's surprise, did not die, but suffered only a mild form of the disease. And when the scientist infected them again with a fresh culture, the chickens did not develop a single symptom of cholera. Pasteur realized that introducing weakened microbes into the body could prevent further infection. Thus, vaccination was born. Pasteur named his discovery in memory of the scientist Edward Jenner, who, to prevent smallpox, injected patients with the blood of cows infected with a form of this disease that is safe for humans (the word "vaccine" comes from the Latin vacca - "cow").
After a successful experiment with chickens, Pasteur developed a vaccine against anthrax. The prevention of this disease in cattle saved the French government a lot of money. Pasteur was given a life pension and was elected to the French Academy of Sciences.
Mad Dogs
In 1881, a scientist witnessed the death of a five-year-old girl bitten by a rabid dog. What he saw impressed Pasteur so much that he set about creating a vaccine against this disease with great zeal. Unlike most microorganisms that the scientist had to deal with before, the rabies virus could not exist on its own - the pathogen lived only in brain cells. How to get a weakened form of the virus - this question worried the scientist. Pasteur spent days and nights in the laboratory infecting rabbits with rabies and then dissecting their brains. He personally collected the saliva of sick animals directly from the mouth.
The professor personally collected the saliva of rabid animals directly from the mouth Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Relatives seriously feared for the health of the professor - it left much to be desired even without overwhelming loads. 13 years earlier, when Pasteur was only 45, he suffered a severe stroke, which turned the scientist into an invalid. He never recovered from his illness - his arm remained paralyzed, and his leg was dragging. But this did not prevent Pasteur from making the greatest discovery of his life. From the dried brain of a rabbit, he created a vaccine against rabies.
The scientist did not risk conducting tests on people until the mother of a boy who had been badly bitten by a rabid dog approached him. The child had no chance to survive, and then the scientist decided to administer a vaccine to him. The child recovered. Then, thanks to the Pasteur vaccine, 16 peasants bitten by a rabid wolf were saved. Since then, the effectiveness of rabies vaccination has not been questioned.
Pasteur died in 1895 at the age of 72. For his services, he received about 200 orders. Pasteur had awards from almost every country in the world.
Louis Pasteur has died September 28, 1895 Auguste Gilbert-Martin
Memories of Louis Pasteur
28.09.1895
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur
French Scientist
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Pasteur Medical Institute opens in Paris
Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822 in Dole, France. The boy's father, Jean Pasteur, was noted for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, and later opened a leather workshop. The head of the family was illiterate, but he tried to give his son a good education. The young man successfully completed his studies in college and entered the Higher School. The future scientist was especially fond of chemistry and physics, and made his first discovery in his student years, discovering the optical asymmetry of molecules. These studies formed the basis of a new scientific direction: stereochemistry. At the age of twenty-five, he was already a well-known researcher in the field of crystal structure.
Later, he passed the exams for the title of assistant professor of physical sciences, and also defended his doctoral dissertation. Then he taught natural sciences at many universities. Since 1857, Pasteur began to study the processes of fermentation. As a result of numerous experiments, he proved that fermentation is not a chemical process, as it was then customary to think, but a biological phenomenon due to the activity of microorganisms: yeast fungi.
From 1860 to 1862, the microbiologist studied the theory of spontaneous generation of microorganisms, which at that time was followed by many researchers. To do this, Pasteur took the nutrient mass, heated it to a temperature at which microorganisms die, and then placed it in a special flask with a “swan neck”.
As a result, no matter how much this vessel with the nutrient mass stood in the air, life did not arise under such conditions, since bacterial spores remained on the bends of the long neck. If the neck was broken off or the bends were rinsed with a liquid medium, then microorganisms soon began to multiply. Consequently, the French scientist refuted the dominant theory and proved that microbes cannot spontaneously generate and are introduced from outside each time. For this discovery, the French Academy of Sciences awarded Pasteur a special prize in 1862.
The breakthrough in the scientific research of the scientist was facilitated by the need to solve a practical problem. In 1864, winemakers turned to Pasteur with a request to help understand the causes of wine spoilage. After studying the composition of the drink, the microbiologist discovered that it contained not only yeast fungi, but also other microorganisms that led to spoilage of the product. Then the scientist thought about how to get rid of this problem. The researcher suggested heating the wort to 60 degrees, after which the microorganisms die.
The method proposed by Pasteur for the processing of wort began to be used in the manufacture of beer and wine, as well as in other branches of the food industry. Today, the technique described is called pasteurization, after the name of the discoverer. The described discoveries brought fame to the French scientist, but personal tragedy did not allow Pasteur to calmly rejoice in his achievements. Three children of the microbiologist died of typhoid fever. Under the influence of tragic events, the scientist began to study infectious diseases.
Louis Pasteur examined wounds, abscesses and ulcers, as a result of which he identified a number of infectious agents: streptococcus and staphylococcus aureus. The microbiologist also studied chicken cholera and tried to find a counteraction to this disease. The decision came to the famous professor by accident. The scientist left the culture with cholera germs in the thermostat and forgot about them. When the dried virus was injected into chickens, the birds did not die, but suffered a milder form of the disease. Pasteur then re-infected the chickens with fresh cultures of the virus, but the birds were unaffected. Based on these experiments, the scientist discovered a way to avoid a number of diseases: it is necessary to introduce weakened pathogenic microbes into the body.
This is how vaccination was born. The discoverer used this name in honor of the famous scientist Edward Jenner. The latter sought to prevent people from getting smallpox, so he transfused patients with the blood of cows infected with a form of smallpox that was harmless to humans. An experiment with chickens helped a microbiologist create a vaccine to fight anthrax. The subsequent use of this vaccine has saved the French government huge amounts of money. In addition, the new discovery secured Pasteur membership in the Academy of Sciences and a lifetime pension.
In 1881, Pasteur witnessed the death of a girl from the bite of a rabid dog. Impressed by the tragedy, the scientist decided to create a vaccine against a deadly disease. But the microbiologist discovered that the rabies virus existed only in brain cells. There was a problem obtaining a weakened form of the virus. The scientist did not leave the laboratory for days and conducted experiments on rabbits. The microbiologist first infected the animals with rabies and then dissected their brains. At the same time, Pasteur exposed himself to mortal danger by collecting infected saliva from the mouths of rabbits. However, a talented scientist managed to extract a rabies vaccine from the dried brain of a rabbit. Many are sure that this discovery was the main achievement of the outstanding microbiologist.
For some time, Louis Pasteur hesitated to use the vaccine on humans. But in 1885, the mother of nine-year-old Josef Meister came to him, who was bitten by a rabid dog. The child had no chance of surviving, so the vaccine was his last option. As a result, the boy survived, which testified to the effectiveness of Pasteur's discovery. A little later, with the help of a vaccine, sixteen people bitten by a rabid wolf were saved. Since then, the vaccine has been consistently used to fight rabies.
Louis Pasteur suffered a stroke at the age of 45, after which he remained disabled. The scientist's arm and leg did not move, but the man continued to work hard. In addition, the microbiologist was often exposed to danger during the experiments, which made the family worry about his life.
Louis Pasteur has died September 28, 1895 in the city of Villeneuve-l "Etan near Paris from complications after several strokes. The great scientist was buried in the crypt of the Pasteur Institute. The tomb was made in the Byzantine style: the vaults are covered with mosaics illustrating his achievements. The chapel-mausoleum was decorated by famous French artists of the Art Nouveau era: architect Charles Giraud, Luc-Olivier Merson painter and mosaicist Auguste Gilbert-Martin who were inspired by the layout and decoration of the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna.Louis Pasteur. Etudes sur la Bière. - 1976.
Louis Pasteur. Les Microbes organises, leur rôle dans la Fermentation, la Putréfaction et la Contagion. - 1878.
Louis Pasteur. Discours de Reception de M.L. Pasteur à l "Académie française. - 1882.
Louis Pasteur. Treatment de la Rage. - 1886.
Memories of Louis Pasteur
In 1898, a college in Arbois, a village in Algiers and a district in Canada were named after Pasteur.
Many streets are named after Pasteur in many cities around the world, including more than 2,000 in France itself (as of 2011).
Pasteur Avenue in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) is one of the few streets in this city that has retained its French name.
Pasteur Street in Tehran was also one of the few that was not renamed after the Islamic Revolution.
On Pasteur Street in Odessa, there is the building of the Odessa State Medical University, where Sklifosovsky and Mechnikov worked.
In Paris, there is Pasteur Boulevard - one of the most important transport corridors on the left bank of the Seine, as well as a subway transfer hub named after him.
As of 2015, in France, 361 schools and lyceums were named after Louis Pasteur, which was then 11th in terms of prevalence.
After the reform of Minister E. Faure in 1968, the University of Strasbourg was divided into three parts. One of them (the largest in the country) was named "Pasteur University - Strasbourg I". It remained until the merger of the Strasbourg universities in 2009.
In St. Petersburg, Louis Pasteur is named after the Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, founded in 1923 and named in honor of the 100th anniversary of the scientist.
In total, more than 100 scientific institutions around the world bear the name of Pasteur.
Pasteur is dedicated to many monuments in France and abroad. The statue of the scientist in the courtyard of the Sorbonne is set opposite the image of Victor Hugo.
He was also the only scientist to be featured on the 1966 five-franc note.
In 2012, in the jubilee series, a coin with a Pasteur profile was minted in denominations of 10 euros.
Pasteur's portrait has repeatedly appeared on a series of postage stamps in France.
Stamps and blocks on the Pasteur theme were also issued in the USSR.
In 1961, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on the far side of the Moon after Louis Pasteur.
In 1973, a crater on Mars, located in the region of Arabia, was named after the scientist.
The name of the scientist named the genus Pasteurella bacteria that cause septic diseases.
A passenger liner was also named after the scientist in 1938 and a more modern cruise ship in 1966.
French scientist Louis Pasteur known throughout the scientific world for his discoveries and practical achievements in the field of microbiology, chemistry, the development of vaccines against serious diseases and many other achievements.
Brief biography of the scientist
Louis Pasteur is born December 27, 1822 in the French city of Jura (Dole). His father is Jean Pasteur, a tanner, a participant in hostilities under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Pasteur family was friendly. The father, who had not received any education at one time, decided to fill this gap by giving Louis the opportunity to study.
Pasteur pleased his parents with his success in learning and extraordinary diligence. Louis read a lot, loved to draw, but, perhaps, did not stand out from his peers in any way. And only exceptional accuracy, observation and the ability to work with great enthusiasm made it possible to foresee a future scientist in him.
Education of Louis Pasteur
Despite poor health and lack of funds, Louis Pasteur successfully completed his studies, first at a college in Arbois, and then in Besançon. After graduating here with a bachelor's degree, he entered in 1843 in higher normal school preparing teachers for secondary schools.
Louis was particularly fond of chemistry and physics. At school, he listened to Balar's lectures. And the famous chemist Jean Baptiste Dumas went to listen to the Sorbonne. Work in the laboratory captured Pasteur. In his enthusiasm for experiments, he often forgot about rest.
Learning success
After graduating from school in 1847, Louis Pasteur passed the exams for the title Associate Professor of Physical Sciences. And a year later he defended his doctoral dissertation.
Then Pasteur was not even twenty-six years old, but he had already gained fame for his research in the field of crystal structure. The young scientist gave an answer to a question that had remained unresolved before him, despite the efforts of many leading scientists.
Founder of stereochemistry
He discovered the reason for the unequal influence of a beam of polarized light on the crystals of organic substances. This remarkable discovery led to the emergence stereochemistry- the science of the spatial arrangement of atoms in molecules.
In the same 1848 Pasteur became associate professor of physics at Dijon. Three months later, he takes up a new position as associate professor of chemistry in Strasbourg. Pasteur took an active part in the revolution of 1848 and even joined the National Guard.
Personal life
In 1849 Pasteur married Marie Lauren. They had four children. But two of them, unfortunately, died very young. Their family relationships were a role model: Louis and Marie respected each other, appreciated humor.
The study of fermentation
Pasteur became interested in phenomena fermentation, began to study them, and these studies led him to extraordinary discoveries. So Pasteur - a chemist and physicist - first touched the fascinating field of biology.
Fermentation phenomena interested Pasteur not by chance. He was never an armchair scientist shutting himself off from the demands of life. Louis was well aware of the enormous role played in the economic life of France by winemakers e, but it is entirely based on the phenomena of fermentation of grape juice.
Scientific discovery
In his laboratory in Lille in 1857 Pasteur made a remarkable discovery:
He proved that fermentation is not a chemical process, as was customary then to think, but a biological phenomenon. It turned out that any fermentation (alcohol, acetic acid, etc.) is the result of the vital activity of special microscopic organisms - yeast fungi.
Second discovery
While studying fermentation, Louis Pasteur made another important discovery: he found that there are organisms that can live without oxygen. For them, oxygen is not only unnecessary, but also harmful. Such organisms are called anaerobic. Their representatives are microbes that cause butyric acid fermentation. The reproduction of such microbes causes rancidity of wine and beer.
Merit recognition
In 1874, the Chamber of Deputies, in recognition of outstanding services to the homeland, awarded Pasteur a lifetime pension of 12,000 francs, increased in 1883 to 26,000 francs. In 1881, Louis was elected to the French Academy.
Starting with unraveling the "diseases" of wine and beer, the brilliant scientist Louis Pasteur devoted his entire future life to the study of microorganisms and the search for means of combating pathogens of dangerous contagious diseases of animals and humans.
Disease vaccines
Public verification of the effectiveness of vaccination against anthrax, held in 1881, brilliantly confirmed the value of the method proposed by Pasteur.
In 1882, Louis Pasteur and his collaborators began to study rubella swine. Having isolated the pathogen, the scientist obtained weakened cultures of this microbe, which he successfully used as a vaccine.
Uphill battle for new treatments
But Pasteur and his followers had to carry on a difficult struggle for the recognition of a new way prevention of infectious diseases. What kind of attacks did not survive Pasteur! Reactionary scientists and journalists said that he had no right to practice medicine without a medical degree.
The scientist was reproached for refuting scientific views that had existed for centuries, his experiments were questioned. One failure was enough for Pasteur to be accused of infecting and killing people with his vaccinations. The great scientist, who benefited mankind, was at one time threatened with murder charges!
Louis Pasteur Awards
In 1889 Louis Pasteur resigned from all duties in order to devote himself to the organization and management of the institute named after him. Pasteur's scientific merits were repeatedly evaluated during his lifetime:
The Royal Society of London awarded him two gold medals. in 1856 and 1874; The French Academy of Sciences awarded him a prize for his work on the question of self-birth.
last years of life
Louis Pasteur created the world scientific school of microbiology, many of his students later became major scientists. Pasteur was a staunch friend of Russia and was on close terms with many Russian scientists.
Almost all Russian microbiologists of that time went to work with Pasteur, and later at his institute in Paris. Here is what Pasteur said to his students:
“Be sure that you have discovered an important scientific fact, burn with a feverish desire to notify the whole world about it and restrain yourself for days, weeks, sometimes years; to enter into a struggle with oneself, to exert all one’s strength in order to destroy the fruits of one’s own labors and not to proclaim the result obtained until one has tried all the hypotheses that contradict it - yes, this is a difficult feat.
Louis Pasteur was born in France, the town of Dol, December 27, 1822 in the family of a tanner. He was educated at Arbois College, where he became a teacher's assistant. Later he worked as a junior teacher in Besançon. On the advice of his teachers, in 1843 he entered the Paris Higher Normal School, from which he graduated in 1847. He was a professor of physics at the Dijon Lyceum (1847-1848), after that he was a professor of chemistry at Strasbourg (1849-1854) and Lille (since 1854) universities. In 1856, Louis Pasteur received the position of director of studies at the Higher Normal School, where he reformed education.
As a student, Pasteur made the first discovery in the field of chemistry. In 1848, while studying tartaric acid crystals, he concluded that they were composed of asymmetric molecules. Dividing the crystals into two parts, he found that they were optical antipodes. This discovery formed the basis of a new direction in chemistry - stereochemistry.
Studying the process of fermentation, in 1857 Louis Pasteur proved its biological nature. In his research, he came to the conclusion that fermentation is obtained as a result of the action of microorganisms - bacteria deprived of oxygen. In 1861, Pasteur proposed a method of preserving liquid products by heat treatment, later called "pasteurization".
Since 1865, Louis Pasteur began to study the causes of silkworm disease in the south of France. The scientist found effective methods to combat this disease and saved sericulture. And since 1876, Pasteur devoted himself entirely to immunology. He studied diseases such as anthrax, puerperal fever, cholera, rabies and others. In the process of research, he found that diseases are caused by a certain kind of pathogens. In 1881 he developed a vaccine against anthrax, and in 1885 against rabies. Thus, he made the first major step in the history of vaccination.
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Professor V. D. Solovyov
On the fiftieth anniversary of death
Louis Pasteur in the laboratory. On the photo there is an inscription: “In memory of the famous Mechnikov, the creator of the phagocytic theory, from the sincerely devoted Pasteur.
Ru and I.I. Mechnikov (Paris).
In Paris, on Rue Dutot, in a low, modest building surrounded by a cast-iron fence, the Pasteur Institute is located - one of the most interesting scientific institutions in the world. The institute was created according to the plan of the great scientist, whose name it bears. It was built in the last years of Pasteur's life with funds raised by international voluntary subscription. The Pasteur Institute is the center of microbiological science in France and has played an exceptional role in the development of this science. The best French bacteriologists worked within its walls, as well as many outstanding researchers from other countries, including Russian scientists. The world famous Russian zoologist and microbiologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov was at one time the Scientific Director of this Institute. Here, during the lifetime of Pasteur himself, N. F. Gamaleya, now an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, studied bacteriological skills.
The great scientist forever, even after his death, remained at his Institute. On the ground floor, in a small chapel, is his tomb. Above the entrance there is an inscription: “Here lies Pasteur”, and on the sides there are two dates: “1822” and “1895” - the years of birth and death of this wonderful person! Inside, on the marble walls, the most important stages of Louis Pasteur's activity and the years of his discoveries are marked: 1848 - molecular asymmetry. 1857 - enzymes, 1862 - so-called spontaneous generation, 1863 - observations on wine, 1865 - diseases of silkworms, 1871 - observations on beer, 1877 - contagious diseases, 1880 - preventive vaccinations, 1885 - prevention of rabies. This short chronological list reflects the history of the creative life of the great scientist.
The son of a tanner from Arbois, a small town in eastern France, and the great-grandson of a serf, Louis Pasteur began his scientific career by studying the theoretical issues of chemistry and chemical crystallography. While still a student at the Normal School in Paris, he began his research on two acids extracted from tartar - tartaric and grape. These two acids, similar in their chemical composition, differ in one feature: the salts of the first of them rotate the plane of polarization to the right, while the salts of the second are optically inactive. Studying the causes of this phenomenon, Pasteur found that during the crystallization of the double ammonium-sodium salt of tartaric acid, two types of crystals stand out, differing from each other in the presence of tiny areas or faces that had previously escaped the attention of researchers. These areas were only on one plane of the crystal and caused their incomplete symmetry: sometimes they were on the left, and sometimes on the right side. The pastor collected separately crystals of this salt with facets on the left side and crystals with facets on the right side. From those and other crystals, he isolated the free acid. It turned out that the solution of the first crystals rotates the plane of polarization to the left, while the solution of the second crystals rotates to the right.
In this way, for the first time in the history of chemistry, an optically active substance was artificially obtained from an inactive starting material. Previously, it was believed that the formation of optically active substances can occur only in living organisms. Pasteur explained the optical activity of the right and left tartaric acids by the asymmetry of their molecules. Thus, the concept of molecular asymmetry was introduced into science.
Further developing his method of artificial breakdown of chemical compounds, Pasteur used the action of mold fungi. This was the beginning of his subsequent work on microbes. Thus, purely chemical research contributed to the creation of one of the most important branches of biology - microbiology. The creation of this science is inextricably linked with the name of Pasteur. What is the cause of contagious diseases, how the infection is transmitted to man - this became clear only when the brilliant mind of Pastor revealed the secret of the driving force of fermentation and directed the development of science along a completely new path.
In the pre-Paster era, that is, 60-70 years ago, mankind had a very vague idea of what contagious diseases were. There were known severe epidemics of cholera, smallpox, plague, which the people called the "black death"; they carried millions of people to the grave. Many other epidemic diseases were known, but what are the causes that cause them, and what should be the measures to combat them, no one knew. How powerless practical medicine was at that time can be seen from the example of the Crimean War of 1854. In the French army, which numbered more than 300,000 soldiers, about 10,000 were killed, and 85,000 people died from diseases and from infectious complications of wounds. In other words, in the army, recruited from the most healthy and hardy men, more than a quarter of the entire composition fell victim to disease. The imperfection of surgery of that time is indicated by the enormous mortality from purulent complications of wounds. For example, 92% of the operated patients died during hip amputation. The main reason for such terrible losses was the ignorance of those rules of hygiene, which now seem to us the most elementary.
By the age of 35, Louis Pasteur was already a famous scientist. His work on the biological theory of fermentation dates back to this time. Facts were established with impeccable accuracy, showing that all fermentation processes are not simple chemical phenomena, as previously thought, but the result of the action of microorganisms. By a series of brilliant studies, Pasteur established the mechanism of various forms of fermentation, where living beings of negligible size, belonging either to yeast fungi or bacteria, turned out to be the active principle.
Later, when studying the processes of decay, Pasteur showed that they are also due to the vital activity of microbes. He also understood the great importance that microorganisms have in the transformation of complex protein substances into a primitive state. “If microscopic creatures disappeared from the surface of the earth, then it would quickly be cluttered with dead organic waste and all kinds of animal corpses and plant remains,” Pasteur wrote. “Without their participation, life would soon cease, as the work of death would remain unfinished.”
Where do these microorganisms, which play such a big role in nature, come from, what is their origin?
Pasteur's subsequent classical studies provided a clear answer to this question. It has been proved that there is no spontaneous generation of micro-organisms, that wherever we find micro-organisms they have been introduced from outside. It turned out that it is completely within the power of a person not only to cause, but also to prevent any of the phenomena of fermentation or decay. It turned out that there are microorganisms that can be used by humans, for example, to convert wort into alcohol, alcohol into vinegar. There are also harmful microorganisms, i.e., those that cause contagious diseases.
These remarkable discoveries of Pasteur not only found practical application in industry and agriculture, but they illuminated the whole of medicine with a new light and laid the foundation for a new science that studies microorganisms - microbiology.
The famous English surgeon, Joseph Lister, having understood the full depth of the ideas of his contemporary Pastor, made the following practical conclusion from them: if purulent complications of wounds depend on the action of microorganisms that have got in from the outside, from the air, then it means that for successful treatment it is necessary to prevent microbes from entering the wound. Thus, a new method of treating wounds was introduced into surgery, called the non-septic or antiseptic method, which was later replaced by a more advanced one - aseptic. The aseptic method consists in maintaining strict cleanliness and in observing conditions that strictly prevent the penetration of infection, i.e. microorganisms, from the environment. “Let me,” wrote Lister to Pastor, “thank you from the bottom of my heart for having opened my eyes to the existence of pyogenic microbes with your brilliant research and thus made it possible to successfully apply the antiseptic method in my work. If you ever come to Edinburgh, then I am sure that in our hospital you will receive true satisfaction, seeing in what a high degree humanity has been benefited by your labors.
Pasteur became interested in medicine, studying the processes of infection and putrefaction. He was particularly interested in the idea of the uniqueness of some infectious diseases. What is the cause of immunity, i.e., the body's ability to resist the action of infectious diseases?
In 1880, while investigating the disease of chickens - chicken cholera, he discovered the remarkable property of the causative agent of this disease - not only to cause the disease, but also to create immunity against it. If an artificial breeding or, as they say, a culture of a microbe has become less poisonous due to its long storage outside the body, then it can only cause a weak form of the disease. But after that, immunity is created - immunity to infection even by the strongest culture of microbes of a given disease. Thus, a method was found for the preparation of inoculations, or vaccines, that is, material for inoculations that protect against infectious diseases.
Although Pastor was already 58 years old at that time, it was precisely now that the period of his most outstanding discoveries began. The discovery of a vaccine against chicken cholera was followed by experiments on anthrax. Anthrax - a severe, often fatal disease of livestock, sometimes affecting humans as well - at that time brought enormous losses to livestock farms. Armed with his brilliant method of weakening the causative agents of a contagious disease and using them for vaccinations, Pasteur, after numerous laboratory experiments, began to manufacture a vaccine against anthrax. After hard and painstaking work, Pasteur managed to find the conditions under which anthrax microbes lose their toxicity, and to prepare a vaccine. It was tested in the famous public experiment on the Poulier-le-Fort farm in the spring of 1881. Having received 60 sheep and cows at his disposal, Pasteur made several preliminary vaccinations for half of them and then, in the presence of numerous spectators, infected both vaccinated and unvaccinated animals with anthrax in its deadliest form. All those present were warned that in 48 hours thirty animals should die, and the remaining half - previously vaccinated animals - would remain safe and sound. The prediction came true literally. The following picture presented itself to those gathered in Pouliers-le-Fort: 22 sheep lay dead, 2 died in front of the audience, and the remaining 6 animals died by the end of the day; 30 vaccinated remained alive and well.
The effect of this experience was exceptional. Newspapers around the world noted the unprecedented success of Pasteur. The method of inoculation developed by him received full recognition.
Following his victory over anthrax, Pasteur went ahead along the intended path. Now he took on a new, very difficult task - to find the germ of rabies. The mere name of this disease, always fatal to man, was terrifying. Medicine did not know any means of combating rabies, and it was well known; if a person is bitten by a rabid wolf or a dog and he falls ill, then there is no salvation, the bitten must die in severe torment of hydrophobia.
A long and intense search this time did not give the usual result. The rabies microbe could not be found either in sick people or in sick animals. Now we know that the causative agent of this disease cannot be seen under a microscope, it belongs to the category of so-called filterable viruses and can only be detected by special research methods unknown in Pasteur's time. All the more so, Pasteur's gift of foresight seems great: having not found a microbe that causes hydrophobia, he did not stop his research and, through the most ingenious experiments and logical conclusions, discovered a way to combat rabies.
When studying dogs with rabies, it was found that the receptacle of the infection is the nervous system - the brain and spinal cord. If you take pieces of nervous tissue, crush them and then use a syringe to inject a healthy animal under the cranial bone, then typical rabies breaks down in it. Thus, it is possible to induce disease at the will of the experimenter. Following further his principle of weakening the infectious principle with its subsequent use to create immunity, Pastor found a way to weaken the terrible poison of rabies. His talented assistants Roux and Chamberlain removed the spinal cord from a rabbit that had died of rabies and then dried it for 14 days in a glass jar. So 14 varieties of dried rabies poison were prepared, with different strengths, ranging from almost harmless to poison of one day's drying, capable of killing an unvaccinated dog. But if these 14 doses are injected successively into dogs, starting from the weakest, and after that the vaccinated animals are infected with the deadly poison of rabies, the vaccinated dogs will not get sick.
After careful control of these experiments, the commission of the French Academy of Sciences came to the following conclusion: "if a dog is immunized with gradually increasing doses of the poisonous spinal cord of rabid rabbits, it can never get sick with rabies."
Victory seemed to be in Pasteur's hands, but there was still another question to be settled. Is it possible with such vaccinations to save from the disease not only before the penetration of the infection, but also after the bite of a rabid animal? In other words, is it possible not only to prevent the disease, but also to cure it? And this issue was soon resolved. The poison of rabies acts slowly. From the moment of the bite to the appearance of the first signs of the disease, it takes several weeks, and sometimes months. Therefore, it was possible to follow this deadly poison, slowly moving towards the central nervous system, to send a poison weakened, but with a faster effect. It is ahead of a strong poison and prepares the nervous system, making the body invulnerable.
This bold and brilliant idea of Pasteur was brilliantly realized and confirmed by numerous experiments. But experiments on animals, no matter how good they are, are not yet enough to judge the benefits of vaccinations for humans. And on July 4, 1885, the first injection of a weakened poison of rabies into a person was made. It was nine-year-old Josef Meister, an unfortunate boy who had been severely bitten by a mad dog. Day after day, the first patient received all 14 shots. Vaccinations saved the boy from a fatal disease.
At this time, Pasteur was 63 years old. This was the pinnacle of his scientific activity and fame; His name became the property of all mankind.
Pasteur's services to science are great, and it is impossible to convey in a brief essay the full significance of his discoveries. Microbiology, of which he is rightfully considered the founder, has now developed into a vast independent branch of the natural sciences, playing an exceptionally important role not only in medicine, but also in veterinary medicine and agriculture.
In medicine, Pasteur's work, as we have already seen, is of great importance for the development of surgery and for the fight against infectious diseases. Modern immunology, that is, the doctrine of immunity to infectious diseases, is entirely based on the method of immunization discovered by Pasteur: the use of pathogens weakened in their toxicity for vaccinations that protect against infection. The method of protection against rabies developed by Pasteur saved mankind from the horrors of this terrible disease. All over the world, special institutions are organized, the so-called Pasteur stations, where they prepare material for vaccination against rabies. It is interesting to recall that the second Pasteur station in the world, after the one in Paris, was organized in Russia by Russian scientists I. I. Mechnikov and N. F. Gamaleya.
The importance of Pasteur in medicine is also great because he widely introduced the experimental (experimental) method of research into the study of medical issues. This method has armed scientists with that exact knowledge of disease processes, which was completely absent in the pre-Pasterian era, and has brought so many brilliant successes to the present time.
Half a century of Pasteur's scientific activity, full of hard work and endless searches, passed under the banner of the creative power of thought and the amazing ability to turn his ideas into undeniably proven facts through a long series of experiments. He taught his students: “Don't say anything that you can't prove simply and beyond doubt. Bow before the spirit of criticism. By itself, it does not reveal new ideas or inspire great deeds. But without it, nothing is solid. He always has the last word. This demand, which I present to you, and which you will present to your students, is the heaviest one can be presented to a researcher who is making discoveries. To be sure that you have discovered an important scientific fact, to burn with a feverish desire to notify the whole world about it and to ask yourself for days, weeks, sometimes years; to enter into a struggle with oneself, to exert all one's strength in order to destroy the fruits of one's own labors and not to proclaim the result obtained until one has tried all the hypotheses that contradict it - yes, this is a difficult feat. But, on the other hand, when, after so much effort, you achieve complete certainty, you experience one of the highest joys that are only available to the human soul.
Pastor's life is a perfect confirmation of his words. Devotion to science and selflessness were excellent traits of his character. “In the midst of one of his works,” recalls K. A. Timiryazev, “which, as always, absorbed all his physical strength, since intensified mental work was usually complicated by insomnia, the doctor who treated him, seeing that all exhortations were in vain, turned out to be forced to threaten him with the words: "You are threatened, perhaps by death, and a second blow, probably." Pasteur thought for a moment and calmly replied: “I cannot interrupt my work. I already foresee its end: come what may, I will fulfill my duty.
Pasteur died on September 23, 1895 at the age of 73. Since then, 50 years have passed. Over the years, natural science has gone far ahead in its development. And in the progress of science, which we are witnessing, the unfading glory of the name of Luke Pasteur illuminates the way for new searches and new discoveries.
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